Warhammer 40K: Heroes of Xarn
by anubis64
Summary: the imperial empire fight the forces of chaos and one soliger is put in the fight of his life R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the games workshop or any thing they are associated with them**

**Chapter 1**

Heroes of Xarn

Veteran Marine Ezekiel of the Harbingers Second Company's Special Operations Squad sat on his helmet atop a small hill. Pain shot throughout his body, but he sat perfectly still as the squad's apothecary tended to the most serious of his injuries, a bolter wound in his right shoulder.

He had a thing for catching bullets just below the shoulder pad of his mighty space marine power armour.

"Blasted Orks…" he said out loud as he surveyed the corpse-ridden battlefield.

Two of his marine brothers had fallen, protecting this useless pillar. What use was it to the Imperium anyways?

They had withstood an entire wave of those blasted Xenos, but even though the kill ratio was more than a hundred to one, they were still far too great losses to the already struggling chapter.

A green plague was spreading throughout this planet and even with the help of two of the mighty Space Marine Chapters, it was apparent that this was a war that couldn't be won.

"The Ultramarines have already cleared this sector and evacuated the survivors. Why do we linger while battle rages on the neighbouring continents?"

He was talking to himself, but the apothecary silently nodded. It seemed that only the two leaders of the Second Company actually knew what was going on.

Ezekiel frowned as a whole platoon of Imperial Guard soldiers marched in.

"And where were they when the battle was on?" his look darkened. "Typical, as unreliable as orks…" The apothecary looked up and had he not been wearing his white helmet, Ezekiel would be sure to see a smile on his face.

He glanced over towards the pillar and noticed Icarus, the company's Librarian, studying it intently. Perhaps it held vital information for their struggle against Chaos, but then again, it could be just one more of the numerous scams he had encountered in his days as a space marine.

As much as he admired the psychics and their abilities, this was taking too long. He could feel it deep down inside and apparently, so could Captain Daniel Maxims, who was standing nearby. He looked almost nervous, and that was a frightening notion…

He could see it in the great war-hero's posture. He was impatient and his arm was dangerously close to his Nova Storm Plasma pistol. Apart from the general sense of unease in the air, Ezekiel wondered what it was that bothered the Captain so.

The apothecary finished his treatment and Ezekiel nodded him a silent 'thanks'. In a few hours, the wound will be but a memory and then even that will eventually fade into the ranks of countless other forgotten injuries.

Ezekiel was one of the nine marines that made up the Special Operations Squad of the Second Company. Their sergeant stood a few meters away, next to one of the two predators that had joined in the assault. He was probably negotiating transport to the next checkpoint, but he was obviously thoroughly displeased about something. His fists were clenched and teeth gritted as he stood in silence, listening to a marine spell something out of a vox communicator.

Ezekiel picked up his melta rifle and traced a bolter-score on its right side. It was a rare model and it would be a great shame if it were destroyed by another stray orkish bullet. He reminded himself to inform the tech-marine as soon as possible. "For now, it will have to do… and guide me Emperor if it jams in battle." He thought while a drop pod landed just behind a nearby predator tank.

The Second Company was the smallest in the chapter, mainly comprised of specialist squads and tactical assault units that paved the way for the bulk of the Harbingers force.

Besides special operations, Ezekiel's squad also had its designated task in the assault operations of the Third Company. Sergeant Nicholas and his squad, being very versatile with all-round training, were responsible for deep-strike missions and breaking enemy morale.

Ezekiel himself had single-handedly destroyed an Ork Leman Russ only a few hours earlier. He had no joy or satisfaction from the act though, four marines had fallen and that was far too great a loss at a time when the Harbingers struggled to stay in High Council-allowed limits. Marine replacements were hard to come by, while the orks' numbers were limitless. What pained him the most was the loss of one of his longest-serving squad-brothers. He had trained and fought with Brother Matthias for many years, ever since they were rookie marines and the loss of such an experienced warrior was a harsh blow not only to the special operations squad, but the entire undermanned Chapter.

'I wonder how long the squad will remain down a man…' Ezekiel thought, little did he know that his untold question would soon be answered.

He walked towards his sergeant and noticed that his anger went beyond clenched fists and gritted teeth; his face was almost skewed in anger.

"Outrageous!" he roared as the vox communicator crackled and the connection closed, "two hours… not more…" he continued.

Ezekiel looked at him questioningly, but only when a very young marine emerged from the drop-pod, did he understand what was going on.

Meanwhile, the sergeant continued: "His body hasn't even settled into the ground yet and already… a replacement," he said with disgust. "No respect…"

Sergeant Nicholas was known for great tactical expertise and leadership and was rumoured to be the first replacement, were something to happen to the captain, but they were moments like these that showed he still wasn't ready for greater command. Pride and the inability to let go and 'retreat', were his major downfalls.

"Brother Mathias' loss will not be forgotten," a familiar voice said from behind, "but now we have to focus on the task at hand."

It was Captain Maxims, and even though he was still troubled by the losses himself, he was thoroughly displeased at Nicholas' emotional outburst. A moment seemed to pass between the two men and soon the mood lightened.

The recently promoted scout watched as probably the two most respected men of the entire Second Company exchanged a few looks and then smiled. Nothing more had to be said, the matter was settled. He admired the strength of the honour and simplicity within the Space Marine ranks, something he was very proud to be a part of.

Captain Maxims turned to the other sergeant that had gathered on a nearby hill beside the Librarian Icarus.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"We're done here," he stated in a matter-of-factly voice so typical to space marine leaders when it came to fulfilling orders. It was considered self-evident, but that didn't mean space marines didn't appreciate successes, only that which came above plan. "Orbital surveillance has informed me of a large orkish force moving to the north-east. The Second Company is to intercept and remove their threat."

Ezekiel was looking forward to battling the orks again and was about to go assemble on the clearing along with the rest of the company when his sergeant pulled him aside. The rest of the special operations squad, including the new marine, was already gathered behind the predator.

"We are not going to take part in the mountain pass ambush with the rest of the company," Nicholas informed them. "We have been given special orders," he paused as a few of the marines smiled and exchanged looks, eager for some action. "We are to investigate an abandoned Imperial base to the south of our current location. Our orders are to salvage any imperial equipment and technology… then torch the place, lest it be tainted by enemies of the Emperor."

'A salvage mission?' Ezekiel wondered. 'Why would they send space marines to do the work of the Adeptus Mechanicus, let alone a special operations unit?' but he quickly whished his thoughts away. It was unlike him to question command. Soon, his suspicions were confirmed.

Sergeant Nicholas lowered his voice and continued. "I have been asked not to, but it is my unwritten duty to inform you of our true mission objectives… There are suspicions that the forces of Chaos, the great enemy, have been operating there recently."

The nine marines exchanged glances, then unsheathed and raised their swords unanimously. Facing off against the traitor marines was the ultimate challenge a space marine could face, and now this challenge stood before them. Some would face it for the first time, some for the last, but now all that mattered was to…

"Purge the Heretics!" they screamed the Chapter's war-cry.

Soon the cry was echoed when other squads replied as they mounted their assigned vehicles. The entire convoy was off within minutes and all but ten marines remained.

They waited in silence until the last convoy was out of sight, and then turned to their leader.

"We will be moving on foot through the Agara Woods to the south," the marines nodded in unison, awaiting further instructions. "Ezekiel," the marine in question saluted. "You and the new recruit will scout ahead in the usual manner. We will move between your established checkpoints in cover-sprint formation as stated in the Codex Astartes," he pointed out a general route on a holographic map.

Ezekiel nodded as Sergeant Nicholas turned to the rest of the squad, emphasizing one last statement. It wasn't necessary, but had to be said anyways. "There can be no mistakes this time. If the forces of Chaos were, or are still operating on this planet, then only the Emperor himself knows what may lay waiting for us."

As the marines began lining up and preparing, Ezekiel took the new marine aside and looked over his weapons. He carried a standard bolter rifle and knife. No grenades or backup weapon… As low on supplies as the Chapter was, they could have at least equipped a special operations marine with more than the basic equipment. What were they expecting him to do if his weapon jammed, or were he attacked at close range?

He looked down at his own arsenal and smiled at the irony. He then took out his LAS pistol and extended it towards the under-equipped marine, who looked upon it as if it were the Emperor himself.

"Save the ammo…" he retorted as he took out a bolter pistol from his pack and replaced the missing weapon.

He then unclipped the strap on his power sword, removed the safety of the melta rifle and turned away from the awed marine.

"Txanton…" the marine extended a hand, but Ezekiel's back was already turned.

"Helmet," he said in his usual stoic manner and without waiting, sprinted towards the woods.

Txanton watched him leave; stunned at the lack of response and extreme professionalism of the other marine, but a split second later he put on his helmet and followed, bolter in hand.

Were he a normal human, Ezekiel may have had to turn around or at least wonder if Txanton was behind him, but his extra keen senses soon picked up even the stealthily running marine out of the noise of the forest.

Txanton was good, and he was sure even most marines would have had problems tracking him, but with those chaos traitors, one had to be extra careful. He slowed down a bit and let the former scout catch up with him, before placing the first sonic marker. It would show up on the squad's holographic map and was very hard to detect since the precise frequency was known only to the members of the team. Normally they'd use their built-in communicators, but that would be very dangerous, especially since it was known that Chaos marines could tap into the system.

He was about to give Txanton orders and encourage him to keep up the good work when his super-keen hearing noticed something out of the ordinary. Suddenly the world blacked out as Ezekiel closed his eyes and concentrated. He heard a shuffling of leaves to the right… ten meters.

He clenched a fist and Txanton immediately froze, looking in the opposite direction of where the finger of Ezekiel's hidden hand was now pointing. Ezekiel then pointed at a right angle and slashed his finger twice.

A few seconds later, the two marines were running side by side, pretending they had dismissed the ruffling as a false alarm.

'How long have they been tracking us?' he wondered. 'Cloaked…' The implications of that were frightening.

Txanton had only a slight idea of what was going on. The commands were precise, but he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. The longer he worked with the veteran marine, the more he admired his abilities.

He watched as the older marine sprinted ahead a bit and then, in a flash of microseconds, he stopped, angled his weapon towards the empty woods to the right, and fired…

Sergeant Nicholas led his marines in flanking formation though the sparsely populated woods. The first beacon appeared on his holo-map. It was more than two kilometres ahead and Nicholas smiled at the efficiency of his two marines. He diverted from a direct course towards the beacon and decided for a path along a slag-lake.

They changed direction and as soon as they reached the clearing beside the lake, came upon a strange pillar, very similar to the one at the battlefield. Seconds later Nicholas heard a blood-tingling scream…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ezekiel noticed a tree at two o' clock shimmer ever so slightly and without hesitation, raised his melta gun and fired. The slag of magma hit a completely unaware figure in the chest, ripping through armour and skin. The instantly dead human-shaped figure slumped to the floor as the melta continued to work its way outwards. By the time the magma cooled, the whole torso of the figure was eaten away.

He noticed Txanton had drawn his weapon in the corner of the eye, but halted him with a sharp cut of the arm.

'A bolter blast would be like a beacon to our whereabouts.'

Cautiously looking in all directions, the two marines crept towards the figure. When Ezekiel looked down, anger and hatred filled his face. A Chaos scout… using cloaking technology! The repercussions of such a find were horrific.

Ezekiel now ignored secrecy and sent a encrypted message to his squad.

"Cloaked traitor marine. Word Bearers my brothers, brother sergeant, regroup at 24-pt sector alpha ASAP. Ezekiel out."

No reply…

"Repeat. Cloaked traitor marine. Regroup at 24-pt sector Alpha! Out."

No reply again.

"Squad ten, red alert, state location and status."

Still no answer.

He looked at Txanton and didn't even have to see his face to notice he was worried. Communications were supposed to be open at all times, under any circumstances.

"Cut it together!" he snapped at the younger marine.

He drew two circles in the air, one in clockwise and the other in anti-clockwise motion, then clenched his fists. The other marine nodded understandingly. Ezekiel reloaded and the moment he was finished both marines ran off in opposite directions in search of their missing comrades.

After only a few hundred meters, Ezekiel heard a very familiar noise in the distance ahead: bolter fire!

He ran as fast as his genetically altered armour-clad legs would allow, melta gun in hand.

"Txanton, move to 20.5-pt sector Theta, on the double!" he commanded the former scout. Adrenalin was now rushing through his veins and then he reached an open clearing.

Waves of hundreds of Chaos cultists were bearing down on eight marines desperately retreating deeper and deeper into a dense-looking slag lake.

As soon as he was in range, Ezekiel opened fire, vaporising the nearest cultist. The blast of magma went right through the cultist's nonexistent armour and knocked down another two behind him.

Several cultists turned towards their new attacker and charged with skin-tingling screams. Two fell before they even made their first steps, another three were disintegrated as they reached for their bloodied bolter pistols and swords.

He then dropped to one knee and surveyed the landscape. In the time a human would just barely glance over the nearing figures, Ezekiel noticed that one cultist was taller, better armoured than the rest and was shooting bursts of heavy-bolter bullets. He took aim and fired.

The cultist leader didn't even see it coming, a melta-bullet hit him right in the temple, pulverising his entire head. The headless traitor continued to fire in all directions, killing tens of his own cultists until his legs buckled and clip ran out. The hesitated only for a second, then turned back to Ezekiel and charged the second time.

He fired one last shot from his eight-round clip and, knowing reloading was a luxury he didn't have, reached for his backup weapons. Several stray shots from the cultists ahead harmlessly ricocheted off his power armour.

The traitorous dogs neared and Ezekiel braced himself. He slashed the head off of the cultist that first reached him, then aimed a perfectly accurate bolter blast to another's eye, ripping his brain out through the back of the head.

He noticed his brother space marines were now waist deep in one of those dangerous tar-like lakes that populated these pollution-ridden worlds like insects. He ripped through the last two cultists and fired a final bullet into the crowd...

Txanton ran as fast as he could. It had been only twenty or so seconds since he heard Ezekiel's crackled message over the communicator, but already it seemed he was late.

He checked his holo-map on the fly and noticed the target was a slag-lake. He then understood why they were unable to reach the marines; the gasses emitted from those lakes scrambled any signals passing near them. But this wasn't the time to think about that, he should be able to see them any moment…

Ezekiel watched as ten or so more cultist broke off from the main group and ran towards him. He hastily reloaded his melta rifle, but even before he began, he already knew it wouldn't be fast enough. The clip was finally in place and he was about to raise the nuzzle to fire when a cultist was already upon him.

"Damn it!" he thought as a blood-ridden scimitar slashed towards his head. He desperately leaned backwards, so it would swipe over his head, but didn't have to since a bolter bullet ripped through the cultist's head.

Txanton was crouched on one knee about fifty meters back in the typical scout sniping stance and landing precise shots to the heads of the nearing cultists.

The intercom crackled and buzzed, then a familiar voice came on.

"Ezekiel! Thank the Emperor you are here. We can't retreat any further. Operation Corriban!"

"Copy that," Ezekiel replied, "I'm going in. Give me one minute; hold on just one more minute! Ezekiel out," he spoke as he reloaded his weapons.

He glanced over to Txanton and the marine immediately understood. Even though he had no idea what operation Corriban was, he was a natural in combat situations. He threw Ezekiel his LAS pistol and Ezekiel in turn, his melta gun.

The former scout covered the veteran with twin weapon fire as Ezekiel shot and slashed his way towards the bulk of the enemy force.

He noticed that the fire from the space marines on the other side had ceased, too deep in the slag to fire. In one swift motion, he sheathed his sword, unstrapped a plasma grenade from his belt and threw it into the core of the heretics.

Bodies flew in all directions as the vast majority of the unarmoured heretics were helpless agains the plasma. Ezekiel then heard: "Purge the Heretics!" as the marines charged.

Not long later, the unorganized and panic-stricken cultists were completely wiped out.

"Good job. Your skill and judgement was outstanding yet again," the sergeant said with pride as he removed the slag from between his armour with the tip of his blade. "Shame about the grenade. That was out last one since Corriban."

Ezekiel smiled at the memory of ripping through an entire front line of orc nobs with four cleverly thrown plasma grenades.

Two marines were carried to a soft patch of grass nearby and laid down.

"Serious injuries Brother Sergeant," one marine reported, "we will need an apothecary for Brother Gabriel," he pointed to a giant gash going right threw both of the twin muscles on the marine's right thigh. The power armour was completely ripped to shreds.

"Xan isn't doing very well either." A heavily bleeding veteran marine started protesting, but his words were slowly giving up on him.

"Zack, Tiresias, you will take our brothers back to the rendezvous point. Leave all but your weapons behind. You must inform out Brother Captain of what has transpired here.

The marines immediately did as asked and when they were about to leave Ezekiel interjected.

"I killed a cloaked Word Bearer during the scout ahead. It is crucial that this info reaches the highest command immediately."

The sergeant looked troubled.

"Marcus," the marine stood up from unjamming his bolter, "you must run ahead and do that immediately," but before he had even finished, the marine had already vanished into the woods. The injured marines and their escort followed suit and the Nicholas turned to what remained of his squad.

"Five men on the way back, but five of us still remain. Our first priority is to finish our mission. We will continue towards the Imperial base. Reload your weapons. Move out my brothers!"

One sergeant, two veterans, a saboteur and a rookie marine… What chance did they have against the forces of Chaos that evidently polluted this world?

Were they soldiers, these thoughts might have passed through their minds, but as the mighty Space Marines, loyal subjects to the immortal Emperor, the mission was all that mattered and the odds were irrelevant.

The five marines moved from checkpoint to checkpoint at full alert, one marine always walking a few meters behind the others, providing cover.

A quick glance at the holo-map indicated the base was only a few hundred meters ahead. They reached the end of the forest and beheld a sight that would have brought fear to the bravest of men.

Captain Daniel Maximus surveyed the battlefield. It was ridden with green ork corpses and rivers of blood.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Not one marine had fallen during the first wave of the orks' attack. More importantly, a marine sniper managed to take down the leading ork Nob, effectively delaying the next attack that would inevitably come.

"The orks were almost too well equipped," he thought when he remembered the arsenal with which the Xenos emerged from the woods, "somebody must be supplying them with weapons…"

As the Codex Astartes demanded, the valley was covered by two Predator tanks on each flank with the bulk of the marine forces between them. Two devastator squads and whirlwind artillery covered them from each side and behind.

The orks had retreated deeper into the mountain pass and effectively disappeared in the forest that grew in the mountain pass.

It was the perfect tactical position. The orks could only attack from one perfectly covered direction and as soon as they would emerge from the woods, would be cut down by marine fire.

Suddenly the captain noticed a figure that appeared in the distance from behind. It was one of the Special Operations marines…

Ezekiel stood stunned when he saw what once used to be an Imperial base. The walls were littered with corpses and each tower was covered in skulls… human skulls. They were hung down on ropes and even if the bright blue of the Imperial colours was still behind them, it was effectively cut off from view.

Bur what stunned the marines in the first place was what was all around the base. Thousnads upon thousands of poles were sticking out of the ground. Some were just plain poles, but others had a second one at the top to form giant crosses. On them, were impaled or crucified men, women and children. The gruesome sight of poles piercing men in their torso and coming out through their neck with hands still clutching at the pole were horrific.

Ezekiel remembered seeing impalement on a holo-recording of Chaos practices. Most of these people were probably still alive when the poles came out of their necks. The impalement was done so that it would miss all of the organs. As Ezekiel closed his eyes he could almost hear thousands of men, women and children screaming for many hours, until they died of pain or blood loss.

A giant tower, definitely not of Imperial make, rose atop the rest of the fortress. It looked very much like a hand protruding from the ground, its fist forming a sort of beacon. 

As the marines took their first steps towards the base and got out in the open, the hand suddenly grew a bright red that blinded them. A fiery red orb in the centre of the fingered tower burned and screamed, alerting all of the heretics within miles and miles of the new threat.

Ezekiel and the other marines dived for cover as bolter fire rained upon them from the ramparts in the distance. He managed to count fourteen Chaos traitors during the second-long flight. He turned the dive into a roll and vanished in the woods.

"They are on their way to the base and should be arriving there any moment," the marine finished his report.

The look on Captain Maximus' face was dire. "Hail our Master Nimrod Grudge, he must be informed of these crucial developments in our struggle against Chaos!"

While a marine hailed the battle-barge in orbit, Maximus continued to bark out orders.

"Four squads will stay here and guard this mountain pass, we cannot afford to be attacked from behind as we strike the Chaos forces. Squads five to eight will do this. Everybody else… mount up!"

"Hail Sergeant Nicholas and inform him that backup is on the way and not to confront the Chao…" but he was cut off by a deafening scream.

Suddenly the sky turned red and screams replied from all directions.

"Oh Emperor…" Maximus froze. He then turned to the communications team. "Cancel that. Inform the High council and hail the Ultramarines. We have a code eight… Yes, I repeat, code eight! Prepare for evacuation and Exterminatus."

Marines stared at each other as hundreds upon hundreds of orks, cultists and lesser daemons emerged from all directions and charged.

Ezekiel, Txanton and Nicholas lay low in the bushes. The two other marines were cut down as they dove for cover.

"What was that?" Txanton said, with evident fear in his voice.

"Cut it together!" Ezekiel shouted for the second time that day. "Many marines have succumbed to fear and turned to Chaos in situations such as these and I wont hesitate if you show any more symptoms."

Nicholas nodded. "It's a summoning of Khorne!"

He stared into the distance silently.

"I witnessed one as such sixty years ago. Two chapters were wiped out that day…"

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOOOOD!" A choral of voices screamed as a wave of traitorous Khorne Berzerkers ran from the base towards their location.

Marines fired in all directions as the monsters bore upon them. They had retreated to form a circle that slowly narrowed. Maximus himself was in the midst of the battle, taking down cultist after cultist, ork after ork, horror after horror, with his twin Nova Storm Plasma pistols.

The beasts neared and Maximus screamed the Harbingers war cry into the heat of the battle. "Purge the Heretics!" and he raised his super power sword into the air.

Marines responded and charged, melee weapons in hand, in all directions, beating the heretics back in the woods.

"Waaargh!" a giantly over-grown Ork Nob that emerged into sight screamed. Wave upon wave of lightly clad orks overwhelmed the marines, forcing them back again.

Maximus fought his way towards the Clan Boss, who noticed him immediately. He fired a salvaged twin bolter at the Captain's head. He managed to turn just in time, but the bullettore the skin off of the right side of his neck. Blood was rushing down and even his advanced marine healing wouldn't be enough to slow it down.

Not caring, he ran the last few meters, with is sword raised. "For the Imperium, for the Emperor!" his words rang above the battle as he rolled between the nobs legs and thrust the sword through his whole body. The nob continued to fire into the crowd with the sword deep insde his body. The Captain then sqeezed the hilt of his sword and a plasma discharge ran through the sword, shooting out in all directions.

The nob's eyes widened as his insides exploded and ripped through his whole body.

Captain Maximus pulled his sword out and made his way back to his marines, but the wound on his neck took over. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees. His head slumped down as he bowed before the Emperor, awaiting his judgement.

Suddenly the redness of the sky faded as a shadow was cast above the battlefield. Tens of drop pods landed all around the battlefield and countless marine squads emerged.

Marines cheered as not only a green, but also a blue Ultramarine battle-barge came soaring down. It rained fire at the enemies of the Imperium.

Still, they were outnumbered by the never-ending onslaught of orks and cultists.

"Evacuate the injured immediately!" a very familiar voice sounded. It was Marneus Calgar, the Chapter master of the Ultramarines, the greatest warrior of the Imperium!

"Now!" another familiar voice joined him. Nimrod Grunge of the Harbingers herded everyone back into the battle-barges, coming over personally to pick up Captain Maximus and carry him in through the giant door.

Moments later, the barges took off for orbit.

"Sergeant Nicholas… Ezekiel…" Maximus muttered before he passed out.

Calgar and Grunge exchanged looks, unsure of what the Captain meant.

The three marines lay in the stem of a giant fallen tree as countless Khorne Berzerkers passed by them.

"We have to return to the checkpoint!" Txanton's voice trembled.

Ezekiel gave him a cold look and almost reached for his blade.

"The mission is what matters!" he said quietly, but the boldness of his voice was still there. "We cannot allow the summoning to be finished."

Nicholas nudged both of them and pointed to the sky.

Two battle-barges were heading for orbit.

"They'll order the Exterminatus," he muttered. "but it will be too late. With Khorne in this dimension… Even redirecting a comet may not be enough!"

"We go in then," Ezekiel said. "Stop the summoning."

Calgar and Grunge sat as two apothecaries worked on Captain Maximus' wounds.

"I sent them to an abandoned Imperial base. I'm guessing that's where the first 'Scream of Khorne' came from," he bit his teeth as a wave of pain shot through his upper body. "Nicholas is one of our most experienced Sergeants and Ezekiel…"

"Ezekiel is well on his way to becoming the Chapter's greatest warrior," Grunge filled in.

"Even if they were dreadnaughts and had multiple terminator squads as backup, their chance for success would be next to none." Calgar was considered to be the greatest warrior and tactician of the Imperium and was very rarely wrong.

"You are right, we cannot rely upon them…" he said solemnly, "but neither can we be sure that anything we do from here will be enough, if the summoning succeeds."

The three men nodded.

"Ready the tractor beams…" Calgar said over the communications link. He soon got a reply and waited a few seconds before sentencing the planet to its doom. "Begin the Exterminatus."

"Emperor have mercy on their souls


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Khorne Berserkers were out of sight, but the three lonely marines were sure the base would still be heavily guarded. As the central tower of summoning, there would be much more than Chaos traitors that guarded it from attack.

"I have an idea." Txanton volunteered.

Ezekiel watched him with weary eyes, his faith in the 'boy' was wavering.

"Wait here… I'll be back soon."

Both Ezekiel and Nicholas were torn. It was a matter of faith and trust in another, neither of which came abundantly to marines. His judgement was awkward since they met him and after the latest events, neither could be sure whether it was mere inexperience, or the first signs of heresy. Would he betray their position to the enemy? But what choice did they have?

"Alright then," Nicholas nodded his head, "you have ten minutes, then we leave."

Txanton watched as the two marines looked at him with suspicious eyes. Were they having second thoughts about his commitments? How could they not? He was acting like a coward, questioning command…

He was surprise when they finally gave his plan a go-ahead.

'I wont fail you my Brothers…' he said in his mind. 'I won't fail you.'

He crawled out of the bark and made his way along the edge of the forest around the base. His years of experience as a scout had honed his instincts so well, he was almost sure he would run across a patrol party very soon.

Only he wouldn't…

This patrol party would be cloaked as the one they ran across earlier that day, which was precisely why Txanton went searching for them.

He walked the last few meters very slowly, raising his awareness to its limit. He'd have to be flawless if he were to notice a cloaked squad before it noticed him.

Nicholas and Ezekiel waited patiently. They didn't know what the young marine's plan was and still weren't sure about his judgement, but something in the back of their minds urged them to wait, to be patient, and so they were. They were smart enough to trust their instincts when confronted with the direst circumstances.

'The Emperor will guide us,' they both thought simultaneously. Suddenly they heard a second deafening scream and the sky turned an even brighter red. The light pierced the thin bark of the tree and their location was revealed to their enemies yet again.

They drew their weapons as the nearest Berzerker squad that had noticed them during the flash reached them.

'Brainwashed killing machines, deadly at close combat,' was the typical description of Khorne Berzerkers and the sight of their chain swords and bolter pistols, decorated with bones and skin furthered that.

The two marines ran backwards, firing their weapons at the nearing traitors, thankful for the relative quietness of their melta rifle and plasma pistol. Bolter-fire would have doomed them to being run down by the other traitors lurking within these woods.

The moment the thought ran through their mind, the Berzerkers raised their Bolter pistols and opened fire.

Propelled bullets ricocheted of their power armour as they neared and neared. Nicholas and Ezelkiel managed to shoot down eight of the twelve-manned squad before they came upon them.

Nicholas squeezed his power sword just before it clashed with the first Berzerker's chain sword. The super-charged blade slashed right through it and went on to bury deep in its owner's chest. He quickly pulled out and the blue glow surrounding it dimmed. The next time his sword clashed with a Berzerker's all it did was repel the other away, but even that was enough to leave his attacker defenceless while he raised his other hand and blew his head off with his plasma gun.

When Nicholas turned he noticed Ezekiel was still fending off his two Berzerkers with a powered down power sword and using his other hand to fire LAS rounds through their knees. Nicholas had forgotten that Ezekiel must have used up too much of his weapon's energy during his rescue back at the slag-lake.

He pulled out a clip and recharged his plasma gun in one swift motion, then fired twice…

Txanton was walking very slowly when the second great flash of read shot out of the tower-hand. Suddenly five figures sparkled and were surrounded by a red glow only a few meters in front of him. The light purposefully illuminated the scout squad that was looking away from Txanton.

Unaware of their uncloaked status, they continued their patrol.

Txanton noticed that they were using the classic 1-4 formation, with one man straying behind. He waited for the four Word Bearers to run ahead and then pushed the covering one behind a tree. Before he could scream to notify his friends, Txanton fired a bolter round through his eye.

The four marines turned, but in whichever direction they looked, they couldn't see their missing friend.

Txanton stayed crouched behind the tree and removed the cloaking pack on the marine's belt. It was a strange make, definitely not Eldar-class or the prototype the High Council was rumoured to e working on.

He attached it to his own belt and turned it on. The renewed bolt of energy effectively masked him, while the four Chaos survivors were still illuminated in red.

They were unorganised, all looking in one direction.

'That could never happen to my brother Space Marines,' Txanton thought, 'they'd be back-to-back, covering all angles.

He snuck up behind them and fired four rounds to the heads of the heretics. Three immediately fell to the ground, but one's helmet deflected the shot and he turned around with a frenzy of fire.

Txanton got two bullets squarely in the chest before he fired again and took the marine down. He looked down and saw the golden wings on his chest torn apart. There was blood rushing out of his chest and Txanton hoped that at least one of his circulatory systems remained functional.

He removed two more cloaking packs from the corpses and staggered back to his brothers.

Ezekiel removed his helmet and swiped the sweat from his eyes, it had overflowed the trails that usually removed this problem.

Soon Nicholas was there and pushed the two dead bodies off of his long-time battle-brother.

Their hands connected and Nicholas pulled him to his feet. "We can't wait for Txanton anymore… We're running out of time. The third flash will be the final precursor to the summoning."

They quickly reloaded their weapons and made their way to the base, avoiding squads of Berzerkers that ran to the aid of their corrupted brothers.

Finally they reached the clearing that they had first run across. They got down and began crawling beside the bodies of their two brothers when they heard a faint whisper from the bushed behind.

"Sergeant…" Ezekiel smiled. "It's Txanton."

They crawled back and the marine handed them each cloaking packs, eliciting more smiles from the two more experienced marines.

They turned them on and, hoping they weren't too late, ran across the clearing to the base.

Captain Maximus was looking out through the window at the planet below. Somewhere down there, the most feared Chaos daemon was about to rise and all they could do was wait for it to happen. They knew the comet redirection wouldn't be in time and there was nothing to suggest that the three lonely marines on the planet's surface had any chance of success.

Seven battle-barges were now in orbit around the planet, a planet that was barely on the Imperium's radar until now. Now, seven Space Marine Chapters were just waiting for the Armageddon it would unleash.

And still many more were on the way…

The ritual had to be stopped, but all their measures were out of the question. A landing and full-scale assault, or orbital bombardment of the only known 'Hand of Khorne'  
Location, the tainted Imperial base, would provide the blood God with so many sacrifices that even were the summoners killed in the process, it wouldn't be enough to stop him from rising.

All they could do was wait for him to rise, and then send everything they've got and beat him back to the portal he came from.

'Many marines will die tonight, some Chapters may not survive,' the helplessness of the Captain's voice revealed his fear that the Harbingers will probably be one of them. The Chapter was decimated already and this would be the final… killing blow.

Nicholas, Ezekiel and Txanton stood below the wall of the once magnificent base. They had no time to waste and so they immediately began climbing up the ropes covered with skulls. Nicholas was first to reach the top and Ezekiel was just about to climb over the ledge when he noticed Txanton's skull-rope tear and the marine dropped the ten meters to the floor. His cloaking pack buzzed and the marine decloaked, convulsing in pain.

Ezekiel looked from the apparently dying marine to his Sergeant.

"We have no time!" the sergeant reminded him.

Ezekiel was torn. "Never leave a Brother behind," he cited the Codex Astartes.

"The codex states that the first and foremost responsibility of the Space Marines is clearing the universe of the filth of Chaos!" Nicholas reached for his hand.

Ezekiel held it and pulled himself up. 'Sorry my Brother…' he thought as the two marines ran deeper into the base.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

In the distance they heard a familiar voice scream with pain…

Txanton was still not used to the extra weight of his Power Armour. Normally he'd have shot up the wall in seconds. Angered and frustrated, he didn't notice the rope crack, then tear completely.

He desperately tried to catch another but, hitting a protruding skull, he ricocheted too far away and out of reach of the ropes.

He landed with a giant crash and felt multiple bones in his body snap. The weight of his power armour had effectively destroyed his rib cage and pierced multiple organs.

He tried to get up, but his body protested.

He looked up to see the two marines waiting for him. 'Go!' he tried to scream. 'Go on… we have a duty!' Still nothing came out.

Finally the sergeant seemed to pull Ezekiel up and they ran off. Txanton sent a silent thanks to the veteran marine, glad that he had finally believed in him, even if it was too late.

Suddenly a whole battalion of Khorne Berzerkers emerged from around the corner.

"What are you waiting for?" he screamed. "I'm over here! Kill me!" Giving his brothers as much time as he could was the least he could do.

Several of the traitors raised their arms to fire, but were stopped by a helmet-less marine that emerged form the crowd. From the three giant 'skull-bearing pikes' on his back, Txanton figured it was a Lord of Chaos.

He barely looked like a man anymore, his face rotting and disfigured, with sharp teeth jagging in all directions. His voice was deep and protruding.

"So this is the dog that has been causing us all the trouble…" je said matter-of-factly. "Impale him…"

Ezekiel ran through the halls of the base towards the one building that didn't carry the fine craftsmanship of Imperial hands. The layout was well known to both him and Nicholas and they effectively dodged all of the enemy patrols.

They finally reached a door to the courtyard, from which the 'Hand of Khorne' had emerged. Ten Chaos Sorcerers were standing around the artefact and chanting.

They readied their weapons and entered the courtyard.

Suddenly one of the Sorcerers turned and his eyes erupted a red beam that shot for them. They both dodged to either side, narrowly avoiding the psychic outburst. They obviously weren't invisible to the psychics…

Txanton struggled not to scream as the wooden pike pushed deeper and deeper into his body. He saw himself move closer and closer to the floor as he looked down at the pole that was emerging from between his legs.

When done properly, the pike would miss all of a human's organs, thus keeping him alive while impaled, but with the denseness of a marine's insides, the pole went through organ after organ, sending waves of pain throughout the man.

He could feel the pole all the way in his chest and then the cultists jumped up and hanged on his legs, yanking the sharpened pike out through Txanton's spinal cord.

He screamed with pain, as his body seemed to go on fire. A few steps away, the Chaos Lord was smiling, teeth protruding from his mouth.

"Emperor, give me strength." Txanton prayed.

"The Emperor?" the Chaos Lord laughed, followed by a choral of laughter from the rest of the gathering marines.

"Soon the Blood God will rise, and your 'Emperor," he scoffed. "Will be no more…"

The marines cheered and applauded and even though Txanton's body was slowly giving way, deep down, he smiled.

'Ezekiel will get it done…' he thought with absolute certainty.

Then, the world went black…

Ezekiel rolled away from another psychic blast, then raised his own weapon and fired three times at the Sorcerer, who merely raised his hand and stopped the magma slag mid-flight. He joined the three slags together and sent them hurtling back.

As the slag went flying back at him, Ezekiel realized what mattered: stopping the ritual. He dodged his own bullet and fired the rest of his clip at the chanting Sorcerers. Five unprepared traitors fell to the ground immediately.

Nicholas noticed this and took down two more Sorcerers with quick shots of plasma.

One of the remaining two chanting Sorcerers turned to Ezekiel and Nicholas and sent his own blast towards Nicholas, who just barely dodged it.

Ezekiel dropped his melta rifle and instinctively reached for his LAS pistol, but remembered that he had run out of ammo fending off the Khorne Berzerkers in the woods outside the base. He unsheathed his sword just in time to see twin blasts hit Nicholas in the side, throwing him against a nearby wall.

The marine was either dead or unconscious…

Captain Maximus shielded his eyes from the final, third red flash. He looked at the other battle-barges align and prepare for the assault.

"So it has begun," he said out loud solemnly.

"Purge the Heretics!" he screamed and the whole ship shook with the reply.

Ezekiel was forced back into a corner, this time, he'd have nowhere else to dodge and taking on a Sorcerer in melee combat would be suicide.

Suddenly the tower above them flashed blindingly. Ezekiel took at as an attack command. He leapt forward and slashed the head off the nearest Sorcerer, then ducked another psychic attack. He rolled to the side and picked up Nicholas' plasma pistol, firing the last round at the still-chanting Sorcerer.

As he fell to the floor, Ezekiel heard a deafening scream. This time not from the tower, but from the last Sorcerer who realized that the portal wasn't being sustained.

He desperately tried to rush to the tower and continue the ritual, but Ezekiel angled his sword and threw it… Burying it in the Sorcerer's back.

Suddenly the tower went black and the sun returned.

Ezekiel forced his legs to go to the sergeant and his heart un-knotted when he felt a pulse. He collapsed next to him in absolute fatigue and his vision gave way.

The view from the sky was unbelievable. All of a sudden, the red was gone. The summoning failed!

Cheers resonated throughout all the battle-barges as the marines realized that the impossible had happened.

Captain Maximus ran through the main hall, followed by endless cheering, but the situation wasn't over yet, the heroes were still somewhere down there!

"Prepare to redirect the comets." he heard from the main deck. It was Marneus Calgar's voice.

"Wait!" he screamed. "Prepare, my Thunderhawk dropship. Nicholas and his squad are still down there."

"We don't know what happened," the calm and cool voice of possibly the greatest marine of the 41st millennium spoke into the intercom. "Perhaps this is our only chance to stop them from continuing the ritual."

"It was them," Captain Maximus reasoned. "I can feel it, they stopped the ritual, and we can't just leave them there after an achievement worthy of the Emperor Himself!"

"Alright then…" Calgar said.

Captain Maximus nodded a silent thanks and made his way out of the bridge towards his Thunderhawk, but a voice from behind stopped him.

"Prepare the fleet for landing." The Ultramarine Chapter Master roared and Space Marines cheered again.

Txanton woke again, with pain seeming to sever his body, centimetre by centimetre, but he woke to a very different world. The Chaos marines that were cheering for his death were now running around in terror. The sky was shining a bright yellow and suddenly, Txanton noticed seven battle-barges descend around the base.

'I knew they'd do it,' he though and finally could let go, his thoughts drifted off as he allowed his pulse to stop.

The unorganised and panic-stricken Chaos forced were wiped out by the overwhelming odds within an hour. Deep inside the defiled fortress, the marines came across two of their Brothers, injured and over-fatigued, but alive and breathing and on the courtyard, there stood the impaled body of one of the heroes of Xarn.

When Nicholas woke up he was in a standing position in front of the assembled Harbingers and representatives from many other Space Marine Chapters. He was back on their home world, but he wasn't happy, a thought still troubled him. He then turned to his side and a wide smile covered his face.

Ezekiel smiled when he saw Nicholas open his eyes. He raised a fist and the marines cheered. Then Nimrod Grunge, the Chapter Master walked up the steps towards him.

"I give thee, the Imperial Laurel, for your great service to the Emperor," he attached a medal to Ezekiel's armour and the crowd roared.

He then walked over to Nicholas and spoke again.

"I give thee, the Purity Seal, for your unwavering courage and honour in the face of darkness."

The crowd cheered again, but then silenced as the Master walked over to the last figure, covered by a golden sheet.

All bowed their heads, expecting to see the body of Txanton, the most famous of the rookie marines. Word of his story and death spread throughout the Imperium like a disease during the Dark Ages.

But when Master Grunge pulled down the sheet, the greatest roar echoed throughout the 'honours chamber'.

Txanton opened his eyes. He was supposed to be dead. His memories rushed back to him. He then remembered the Emperor. Was this death? Was this heaven?

He felt no pain, and the sun shone bright in his eyes. He heard a cheering and smiled. Suddenly, the world cleared and reality returned. He tried to wipe his eyes to get the blur out, but his hands didn't respond.

Finally his vision cleared and Txanton realized what had happened.

Marines cheered and applauded. The Imperium had won again. Not only was Chaos defeated again, but also: there was Txanton. He stood there before them… a Dreadnaught.


End file.
